


Run Away To Safety

by CobraOnTheCob



Series: Runaways 'Verse [2]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Anti Aang, Anti Kataang, Anti-Kataang, Continuation of my Runaways fic, F/M, and the other half is if I took his S3 personality and then let him grow up with it, anti-aang, okay let's be clear that the Aang salt is half from the fics' society
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-09
Updated: 2020-11-10
Packaged: 2021-03-08 21:34:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,835
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27473584
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CobraOnTheCob/pseuds/CobraOnTheCob
Summary: Aang has heard the news and is now in pursuit.
Relationships: Katara/Zuko (Avatar)
Series: Runaways 'Verse [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2007349
Comments: 15
Kudos: 74





	1. Breaking News: Your Wife Has Run Away

**Author's Note:**

> "Nightfalcon why is this tagged Zutara if there's no Zuko or Katara?" That's for tomorrow's chapter.
> 
> Anyways enjoy reading out of Aang's perspective, I know I had fun writing it.

Aang was upset.

Actually, that was an understatement. 

He took care of the spirit issue easily within two days of arriving, and was making preparations to return home when he got the news.

Katara had run away, her path going south through the forests.

He left the Northern Water Tribe as soon as he could - the Northerners were very understanding of chasing an errant wife, thankfully - and they let Appa rest in a boat as they sailed from the Northern Water Tribe, to the Earth Kingdom so that Aang didn’t have to worry about pushing Appa too hard.

It’s been three days since he got the news - who knows how far Katara would be. He just hoped the guards would slow her down long enough for him to catch up and talk sense into her. 

“C’mon, Appa, a little faster, please?” he begged his bison. The bison growled in response, but didn’t speed up his flight. 

“I’ll feed you extra apples,” Aang tried, but still, Appa wouldn’t speed up, “Appa, please!”

Still, Appa would not heed Aang’s words, and continued to fly at the same speed. Aang didn’t want to push Appa, but he needed to get to his wife as soon as possible. 

“Sorry Appa,” Aang said, “But I love her, you’d understand, right?” Appa only groaned in response. 

It would be hours until he heard the grunts and sounds of fighting - and a line he was hoping to hear.

“Where did she go?! Tell us, and we’ll leave you alone!” Aang heard someone yell as he encouraged Appa to land. Appa didn’t try to go to the ground, so Aang leaped off and glided down to where he could see the combatants. Two Northern Water Tribe waterbenders and an earthbender stood in a triangle around a woman he couldn’t identify in the growing darkness.

“Over my dead body,” the woman says, and as Aang lands, he can see her clearer - she wore the distinctive dark green outfit of the Air Warriors, complete with the sashes, belt-cloth, cloth mask over the lower half of the face, and the metal mask covering the upper half. Each hand gripped some sort of blade, one in a reverse grip while the other was held normally. She lunges at the earthbender, who raises his war hammer, and she slides under, slashing at his legs. The earthbender howls, and retaliates with an earthbending strike that she easily dodges by leaping into the air, only to be met with water whips that try to ensnare her. The water whips are thrown back by an unseen force, and Aang knows exactly what she is now.

She was not just an Air Warrior, but an _airbender_ at that. 

She twists and lands, lunges at the earthbender and easily getting around the warhammer with airbending enhanced speed and creating some sort of air wake when the warhammer’s strike would be too close to her. With enhanced speed on her side, she easily punches the earthbender - Aang shudders, knowing that every Air Warrior is trained in the art of chi-blocking - and the earthbender falls, stiff. The waterbenders are hesitant to approach her, but she doesn’t hold back. She sent two precise blasts that struck them in the face, and with another airbending move, sent one flying into another. Easily, she chi-blocked them into paralysis. Sighing, the woman whistled, and a cat’s yowl in the distance was the response.

“Too easy,” Aang heard the woman mumble as she walked towards the sound of the cat’s yowl. She froze when Aang started to sneak around to follow her. Her blades are out, and she glances into the forest as Aang hides behind a tree. Aang kept his breath as quiet as possible, and he’s looking over his right shoulder, praying the shadows would be enough to hide him.

It’s not until two blades are held over his throat, his back against the tree, does he realize that they weren't enough to hide him. He finds himself staring in the darkness, but he knows the Air Warrior is right in front of him.

“Hello Avatar,” the Air Warrior sneers, “You thought you could follow me to Katara?” Aang gulps.

“Please. I want her back.” Aang begs. The woman laughs, but steps on his foot as leverage. 

“You made the Air Warriors angry, foolish Avatar,” she says, “Zuko and Uncle Iroh contacted us as soon as they heard we don’t want you on our lands. Would you go against an entire nation?”

“The law is that if she doesn’t get there first, she’s fair game,” Aang said, and willingly let his eyes flicker with a hint of the Avatar’s power. The Air Warrior doesn’t flinch, and only presses the blades closer to his throat.

“Can’t do that if you’re bleeding out,” she threatened.

“Would you threaten an _Avatar?_ ” 

“If said Avatar would try and go against an entire nation for just a spouse, then yes,” she said, and Aang could really feel the steel prick his skin. 

“Please,” he said, going for another angle, “I can prove that I love her!”

“Wrong choice,” she snarled, “You gave up that chance long ago when you took her away from Zuko.” Aang gulped as she pressed her blades closer, and with fear and adrenaline burning in his veins, reached his hands up between the blades and his neck, and with an airbending push, pushed the blades far enough away from him to spin and use an airbending kick to send her away. Aang doesn’t hesitate to snap open his glider and leap up, but something _thunks_ into the wood and he’s being yanked to the ground. He barely has time to recover as he has to roll away from the Air Warrior leaping at him, her blades poised to stab him through. 

“Enough!” Aang yelled, using as many elements he could bend in rapid succession. The Air Warrior wasn’t deterred, she merely sidestepped, leaped, or slid under his attacks and kept getting closer. Aang tried to get back to his staff, but she sent an air blast his way, followed by her charging at him, forcing him to back away.

“No Avatar State?” she asked, sheathing her blades and coming at him with her hands. Aang was barely able to dodge away from her attacks, trying hard not to get struck by her claw-tipped gloves. Aang gasped as he realized what she meant.

“Do you _want_ to know the full extent of my power?” Aang challenged boldly. She only laughed and sliced at him again.

“Oh you poor thing, you don’t have control over the Avatar State!” she laughed, and without hesitation, she swept his legs, and as he tried to prevent himself from crashing completely into the ground, he felt her fists jabbing into the chi-blocking spots. He crashes down, paralyzed, and he hears her leap into the trees, presumably to run away.

Tears fall down Aang’s face as he realizes what truly happened.

He lost time fighting the Air Warrior in vain hopes of beating her and getting her to lead him to Katara. Instead, she’d somehow beaten him, the _Avatar_ , and now he’s lost his wife forever. 

And he can’t do anything about it, unless he wanted to fight off an entire nation of furious warriors ready to bleed dry just to keep him away from Katara.

So he’ll lay here until the paralysis wears off, and by then, Katara would be deep in Air Warrior lands.


	2. Into the City of Whispers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They've made it. 
> 
> They're free.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Enjoy this chapter I felt a heavy burden come off of my shoulders writing this.

Katara can’t believe it.

The mountains that made the Air Warrior’s borders were coming closer and closer, she can feel it! 

The leopard easily makes her way up the mountain, and Katara presses her forehead into Zuko’s back. Zuko responds by squeezing her knee.

They haven’t spoken - it was rather difficult to try to speak on the back of a running leopard - but they both know they can’t wait to get there. 

She can only hope that their masked escort would be with them soon. She could still hear the warrior order the leopard to keep going, and Zuko grabbed her wrist and shook his head as Katara wanted to leap off and help. Only two out of the eight attackers that ambushed them tried to follow them, but Katara and Zuko easily took them down without breaking a sweat. 

The rustling of leaves and branches alerted Katara to several riders on leopardback - and Zuko spoke for them.

“She stayed behind to stall some attackers,” Zuko said as one leopard trotted up close to them. The warrior dipped their head, then signaled to the other two leopard riders. The warrior Zuko spoke to turned her leopard around, and was gone within seconds. The other two easily ran alongside theirs, and Katara tried to get a better glimpse at them. Unfortunately, the forest was too dark and their clothes were equally dark, so she resigned herself to relaxing behind Zuko. 

Another hour passed, and finally, Zuko turned his head to her.

“We’re here,” he says, “I mean, at the outskirts of the ground city.”

“Ground city?” Katara asked.

“The ground city is where non-airbenders live,” Zuko explained, “Most airbenders like to live high up in the trees, and as non-airbenders came here, they made a city on the ground for them. Oh, here’s the home they made for us.” The leopard stopped and crouched down, letting both Katara and Zuko off before she stood back up and gently shook herself. The door opened and Hakoda and Sokka immediately burst out to hug Katara.

“You’re safe!” Sokka exclaimed as he and Hakoda hugged her tightly, Katara returning the hug with the same amount of strength.

“Of course I am, I had Zuko and the Air Warrior - wait, speaking of her, where is she?” Katara said, wiggling away from the hug. She looks around in concern for the Air Warrior. Moments later, two leopards came up, and Katara recognized one as the Air Warrior that greeted them in the forest…

And the Air Warrior who guided her and Zuko to the Air Warriors’ territory had one hand across her stomach and holding something on her side. 

“You’re hurt!” Katara exclaimed, coming up to the Air Warrior as her leopard crouched down for her to slowly dismount. The warrior looked at her and shrugged.

“It’s not enough to kill me,” she said with a slight laugh, and as Zuko came close with a flame in his hand, Katara could see the extent of her wounds - scratches and tears in her shirt, shoulders, elbows, and pants, not enough to kill her but enough to give the warrior significant pain. 

“Let me heal you,” Katara insisted, but the warrior shook her head.

“Don’t waste your energy on me,” she says, but Katara is already getting the water out.

“You kept Zuko and I safe and you got injured for it. Let me heal you. It’s the least I can do for you.”

“Okay,” the warrior said after a minute, “Ow, let’s get inside for this first.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I might write their wedding...maybe...

**Author's Note:**

> "isn't that OC OP?" no, find out next chapter hahaha
> 
> I had so much schadenfreude writing this chapter akdlfjawkljf
> 
> Haha even Appa doesn't ship Kataang, thank you Appa, you're the real MVP


End file.
